The Way Out
by kenziescott54
Summary: "It had been nineteen long years, living in her sister's shadow." Parvati can't take it anymore. Oneshot, canon-compliant. Written for a Charms Assignment in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry forum.


**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter.**

* * *

It was evening.

Pavati Patil stood alone on the balcony of her bedroom window, looking into the garden below, spinning a glass vial in her hands.

 _I know what you're going to do, Parvati. Please, don't!_

Parvati screamed and hurled the vial in her hands across the balcony; it shattered in a sparkling shower of glass shards, the liquid in it spilling onto the stone.

Essence of foxglove. Drink the whole vial, and you'd go to sleep and never wake up. Parvati had spent a great deal of time and trouble finding that vial, and now it was gone.

"I'm a maniac," she said aloud.

It had been nineteen long years, living in her sister's shadow. At school she had her own friends; but now she was back home, and she must endure her parents' endless favoritism once again.

Padma the Ravenclaw, the family jewel, the _smart one_.

It was too much for any girl to bear, especially one who worked endlessly for years on end to achieve the best grades possible, so that she could live up to her sister's standard. But she should have known that no matter how hard she tried, she was never going to be as good as Padma.

She was stuck in an endless hamster wheel of mediocrity. And in her family, that was a living hell.

"Parvati!"

Padma had finally found her. She burst out of Parvati's bedroom door.

"You didn't take it, did you?"

"No," Parvati snapped. "And it was your voice that I heard in my head, telling me not to."

"Parvati," Padma groaned. "Really, you can't get all depressed and dramatic because of _one thing_ that Grandma said."

"One thing?!" Parvati shouted. "Well, how about one thing added to ONE MILLION AND ONE THINGS?"

"Do you want me to say something?" asked Padma, after a moment.

"No," Parvati said. "What could you say, anyway? No, Padma, I'll be fine."

"You just tried to poison yourself," Padma said, frowning. "You're not _fine_. Isn't there anything I can do?"

"No," Parvati said again.

"I feel terrible," began Padma.

"I never blamed you for any of this," Parvati reminded her. "It might have been easier if I could have."

"Well, I still wish I could help."

"I know," said Parvati wearily. "Thanks, Padma, but no."

* * *

She lay in bed, unable to sleep.

As miserable as she sometimes was, that had been her first attempt ever to off herself, and it frightened her that she had gotten so close to succeeding. She didn't want to die; she just didn't want the life that she had anymore. She wanted the life she'd had at Hogwarts, with people who had accepted her and even liked her for who she was.

Because she had not yet decided what career she wanted, her parents had forced her to live at home with them. Padma was only home because it was Easter; she was training to be an Arithmancer, as that had been her favorite subject at school; this was a profession her parents thoroughly approved of.

As for Parvati, a day never passed when they didn't ask her what she planned on doing with her life.

" _I don't know!_ " she shouted back once. "I'm just nineteen! I don't have to have my whole life planned out. Maybe if I wasn't _living with my parents,_ I could get a job and start thinking for myself, and I'd be able to figure it out!"

The lecture she had received after that had nearly reduced her to tears, which was a satisfaction she had determined never to give her parents again; and so from then on she'd avoided conflict as much as possible.

A thought came into her head.

Reaching for her wand, Parvati whispered a quick spell, and then waited for it to take effect. The night wore on, and hours ticked by; morning had nearly come by the time Lavender Brown's Patronus burst into her window, saying the single word "Yes," before it vanished.

Parvati scrambled to her feet. She seized her wand and, with one spell, packed everything pell-mell into her trunk. On the spare parchment next to her bed, she wrote,

 _Padma - needed a way out. You'll understand. Don't worry about me, I'm at L's._

She picked up her trunk, hurried out onto the balcony, and Apparated away into the night.

* * *

Lavender's flat was as messy as her dorm room had ever been. She was in her robe and hair curlers, making tea and yawning dramatically, when Parvati appeared in her front room.

"Parvati!" said Lavender. "Welcome! I can't say I'm very glad to see you, considering how early it is. I saw your Patronus and I heard it what it said and I thought to myself, that can't be right. So I went back to sleep. Then I woke up and thought, but what if it was? So I sent mine. And here you are."

"Here I am," said Parvati, laughing a little. She had always loved being in Lavender's presence; Lavender was always talking, generally about something trivial; and when she was with Lavender, Parvati had the freedom to be as trivial as she liked as well, and not always have to talk about something deep or serious, as she did at home.

"Welcome to my lovely flat," said Lavender, with another yawn. "Oh, wait, you've been here before, haven't you? Well, welcome again. Tea? You do look a mess. What on earth's the matter?"

"Nothing," said Parvati, sinking into an armchar. "Family's being a bit tough, that's all."

"Well, stay here for as long as you like," said Lavender, "as long as there are no more early morning interruptions of my beauty sleep. Now, tea or no tea?"

Parvati took the steaming cup, feeling sleepy for the first time that night. "Thanks, Lav," she said. "Really."

"Always," said Lavender, tumbling onto the couch. "We can sleep now, or you can tell me the nasty stories..."

She was snoring as she finished saying it.

Parvati smiled again. Maybe, just maybe, this place and this girl were her way out.

* * *

 **Assignment:** Write about someone who feels stuck figuratively or literally. Either he/she should search for a way out, or he/she must accept their circumstances.

 **Extra Prompts Used:**

 **Character:** Parvati Patil

 **Subject:** Arithmancy

 **Time of Day:** Evening

 **Plant:** Foxglove

 **Word:** Endure


End file.
